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Archive secrets are unlocked  Secret
Irish Government archives which have remained under lock and key for 30
years and more have finally been released. ANDREW BUSHE reveals their
contents.
BRITAIN’S Queen Elizabeth II understood the aspirations of the
Irish people and did not regard a visit to the North of Ireland as complete
if it was only limited to contacts with the majority Unionist population
— secret Irish Government documents released after 30 years have
revealed.
British Prime Minister James Callaghan outlines the Queen’s position
at a meeting with Taoiseach Jack Lynch.
He made the comment at a private get-together between the two Premiers
in Downing Street in September 1977.
Details of the meeting are revealed in a detailed note of their discussions
made public for the first time by the National Archive Office.
The Queen had made a Silver Jubilee visit to the North of Ireland the
previous month despite threats from the IRA.
It was the first visit by the Queen for 11 years and Mr Callaghan said
when he had seen the date he had gone to Buckingham Palace to object.
“It was madness,” he said, for the visit to take place at
that time. But, at the Palace they said that they could not alter it,
the note says.
“He had sent the proposal back twice but found that, in the end,
because of the Queen’s other engagements there just was no way in
which the date could be changed,” it added.
The note says Mr Callaghan said the Queen “understood the aspirations
of the Irish people and did not regard the visit as complete if it were
limited only to contacts with the majority. He would like particular attention
to be paid to this point”.
Mr Lynch asked Mr Callaghan whether something should be included in the
communiqué after the meeting recognising the legitimate aspirations”
of the Irish people.
“This would be a particularly valuable way in which to counteract
the fears of the minority that British policy was now moving towards integration
in a very real way.”
Mr Callaghan fully assured the Taoiseach there was no movement towards
integration as it would be unacceptable to the British people.
Mr Callaghan said he hesitated to use the words power-sharing but he stood
fully behind the principle that any form of devolved government could
only come about if all sections of the community supported it.
He said the British Government was not ignoring the SDLP but it “was
important to recognise also that the Ulster Unionists would not be dragooned”.
The note says he told the Taoiseach that the Unionists “had to
be wooed” and urged him: “You must talk to them.”
President got car sick
PRESIDENT Cearbhall Ó Dalaigh asked the Government to take away
his State Mercedes in 1976 because travelling in the car was frequently
making him sick.
He asked for it to be swapped for a second-hand Citroen DS as he had one
when he was in Luxembourg as a judge of the EU Court of Justice before
becoming President.
A memo from a Department of the Taoiseach official said Mr O Dalaigh’s
Mercedes 230 was not very old as it had been bought for his predecessor
Erskine Childers just before his death in office.
The memo said Mr Ó Dalaigh’s secretary had written to say
the Mercedes was unsuited to him as on frequent occasions he suffered
from car sickness while travelling in it.
The President suggested the Mercedes could be absorbed into the general
pool of State cars.
The memo said it had been suggested the reason Mr Ó Dalaigh wanted
a second-hand car was that he was anxious to avoid the criticism which
he felt would come from the purchase of a new car in times of economic
stringency.
The gardaí had reported that the Citroen the President wanted was
no longer in production and no second-hand ones were for sale.
A hand-written note on the memo says: “I am sure that they could
secure one if they really tried. I would say that if they were directed
to locate one for example by contacting Citroen they would get one.”
The official asked for inquiries about the car to be discrete and expressed
concern about potential embarrassment if it became known Ireland’s
Head of State had a second-hand car.
“Wisecracks about inability to pay will abound,” he wrote.
A second-hand Citroen was finally located for the President.
 Relatives
of uprising volunteers given aid
DETAILS of a little-known special relief fund that dispersed cash collected
in the US to relatives or participants in the 1916 Easter Rising and the
struggle for independence has been revealed in documents published by
the National Archives office.
In 1977 the final payment from the scheme was made to former TD John McCann
— father of the actor Donal.
The fact that equivalent of £15,000 had been collected to be used
in relief was revealed to a closed session of the Dáil in August
1921 by Finance Minister Michael Collins.
The files show what was called the Irish Relief And Reconstruction Fund
cash was sent from Chicago to the Lord Mayor of Dublin Laurence O’Neill
who passed it on to the Government.
A list in the file shows that payments as low as £3 were made
to relatives of people involved in the independence struggle such as executed
1916 leader James Connolly, Dan Breen and Liam and Barney Mellows.
 Ugandan
dictator’s plane was forbidden to land
THE PROSPECT of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin arriving in Ireland on his
way to gatecrash a Commonwealth summit in London caused consternation
in June 1977 with extra gardaí and troops being drafted in to all
the airports.
Ministers interrupted a cabinet meeting to decide the airport authorities
should be instructed not to permit his plane to land except in case of
emergency for refuelling.
If the aircraft did land the pilot was to be ordered to taxi to a remote
part of the airport and informed that the Government would not allow anyone
to leave or join the plane.
The cabinet minutes for June 7 made public by the National Archives show
the Government decided an army presence should be provided at the airports
to enforce this decision if necessary.
Previously confidential files from the Gardaí’s Security
Department also reveal reinforcements under the command of an Assistant
Commissioner were called in to man the three main airports for the expected
visit of General Amin.
A statement said the Government had been alerted at the cabinet meeting
that the dictator’s plane was approaching Dublin airport.
The Minister for Justice signed an exclusion order under the 1935 Aliens
Act prohibiting Idi Amin from landing in or entering the State.
Uganda radio had apparently announced that Ireland was amongst possible
stopovers for the Amin.
A year earlier Britain had broken off diplomatic relations with his regime.
Subsequently Amin declared he had beaten the British and conferred upon
himself the title of CBE (Conqueror of the British Empire).
British Prime Minister Jim Callaghan had made clear he would not be welcome
at the London summit.
But for months Amin had let it be known he intended to travel and bring
a retinue of 250 people.
Security was a nuisance
GARDAÍ on protection duty at Aras and Uachtarain annoyed and embarrassed
President Patrick Hillery in 1977 when they patrolled too close to the
house.
The President complained to the Taoiseach’s department that he was
finding it impossible to stop the close surveillance of the Aras by officers.
A January 17 memo in the newly-released records says: “It is a source
of considerable annoyance and embarrassment to the President — especially
when he has visitors — to find a member of the gardaí patrolling
immediately outside the window of his study.”
The President said that during the day the gardaí should only patrol
the periphery of the grounds.
Ireland missed out on Shaw film rights
IRELAND missed out on a multi-million funding windfall for the film industry
here when world-renowned author George Bernard Shaw offered the rights
to his plays to a proposed Irish film company 60 years ago.
Dublin-born Shaw made the offer during discussions with Taoiseach Eamon
de Valera in 1945-47.
According to previously classified files Shaw was eager to gift the film
rights of his works but the deal collapsed due to the failure to raise
cash in Ireland.
A request by a researcher Rosemarie Doyle who was gathering information
for a biography of Shaw for details of the proposed film project caused
concern to Richard Stokes — a principal officer in the Taoiseach’s
office.
In a January 1977 memo he wrote that a difficulty in providing the 1940s
correspondence was that it revealed the Government of the day appeared
to have missed out on a windfall.
He wrote: “There could be recrimination that the bonanza of royalties
accruing from the My Fair Lady adaptation of Pygmalion was lost.”
In 1964 My Fair Lady starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn won eight
Oscars including Best Picture and was a huge box office hit.
Mr Stokes was in favour of releasing the files to Ms Doyle as the 1940s
correspondence indicated Shaw’s strong Irishness and his nationalism.
Main events of 1977
- January: Ireland gets 200-mile fishing zone.
Official Sinn Féin changes its name to Sinn Féin The Workers’
Party.
- February: Fisheries Minister Paddy Donegal bans trawlers over 110-feet
long from fishing within 50 miles of the coast.
- March: Former Northern Ireland Premier Lord Faulkner killed when he
is thrown from his horse.
Foreign Minister Garrett FitzGerald meets US President Jimmy Carter about
stopping American cash flow to the Provisional IRA.
- April: Provisional IRA prisoners end 47-day hunger strike in the Curragh.
Workers get representation on semi-State boards like Aer Lingus and ESB
- May: Provisional IRA claims it has killed British army office Capt Robert
Nairac.
Five soldiers killed by shrapnel in the Glen of Imaal in the worst military
accident since a landmine killed 16 officers in 1941.
- June: Fianna Fáil sweeps to power in General Election with promises
of higher public spending and big tax cuts.
The Brendan Voyage comes to an end in Newfoundland having followed the
legendary 4,000-mile journey of sixth-century monks in a leather currach.
n July: Mervyn Taylor becomes the first Jew to be elected chairman
of Dublin County Council.
Jack Lynch becomes Taoiseach and Garrett FitzGerald and Frank Cluskey
leaders of their parties.
- August: In a major statement US President Jimmy Carter recognises that
the Republic has a role in any Northern Ireland settlement.
Bob Geldof’s Boomtown Rats have their first Top-10 hit with Looking
After Number One.
- September: Senator Conor Cruise O’Brien says majority do not want
Irish unity and resigns from the Labour Party two days later.
Health Minister Charlie Haughey brings in new social welfare system based
on PRSI
- October: Founder and chairman of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
Séamus Costello is shot dead in Dublin.
Commission of inquiry set up into alleged garda heavy gang.
- November: After Ferenka strike in Limerick steelcord plant is shut down
with the loss of 1,400 jobs.
Go-ahead given for giant Alcan alumina plant at Aughinish Island in Limerick.
- December: Northern Ireland peace movement leaders Mairead Corrigan
and Betty Williams receive Nobel Peace prize in Oslo.
Background to the royal boycott
- QUEEN ELIZABETH’S Silver Jubilee in June 1977 resulted in the
Fine Gael/Labour coalition breaking new ground in Anglo-Irish relations
by ending an official boycott of royal occasions since the foundation
of the State.
- A service and reception to mark the 25th anniversary of the Queen’s
accession organised by Church of Ireland Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Victor Griffin and the British Embassy — was attended by Foreign
Affairs Minister Dr Garrett FitzGerald.
- President Patrick Hillery also sent greetings to the Queen and expressed
good wishes for her welfare and the prosperity of the British people.
- Dr FitzGerald had previously written to Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave recommending
the President send a message of congratulations.
The Queen replied to send her sincere thanks.
- The Government files made public by the National Archives office reveal
the Taoiseach’s staff researched what had happened in the past.
- In 1935 Eamon de Valera declined an invitation to Silver Jubilee celebrations
for King George V in London.
- The chill continued for the Queen’s coronation in 1953 when a
garden party in Dublin arranged by the British, Canadian and Australian
Embassies was shunned.
- The official who undertook the research said it was his personal view
that it would be desirable the Government should at least be represented
at the service.
But the file shows the Department of Foreign Affairs was not in favour
of the Naval Service accepting an invitation to take part in a Jubilee
review of the British fleet — so heavy commitments were given as
the reason for refusing.
- The file also reveals a London company wrote to the Taoiseach offering
him a chance to buy a limited edition of gold and silver replicas of Jubilee
Stamps of Royalty.
The file does not indicate if there was any response to the offer. |
